Northwest Spectacular 2020

Week 2 here we come! Fresh out of a successful first week, I was feeling confident and excited for the second week of Wilsonville. We started the week off as usual, in the 1.10 jumpers for warm-up. We played around with adding and subtracting strides in lines and taking more inside turns, it was a lot of fun and got me excited for the weekend. The weekend came and we were schooling Wesley differently than the week before, trying different methods to help him keep his legs up over the jumps and not hit the rails. The main method we used was for me to lean up his neck so he would have to really pick up his legs to lift my weight over the jump. This method worked really well and Wesley was being very careful. When we went into the ring, Wesley was really thinking about our school and was more backed off than I was used to. This caused my eye to be a little off and it really showed in the first class. Distances that were usually right on were showing up too long or too short and overall the picture was off. The next day we addressed this and found a happy medium with how we schooled. Saturday went much better and we got back into our groove. I learned that changes in how we school are great and beneficial, but too drastic changes at the last minute can hinder us more than help up.

The rest of the weekend went well besides one spook from Wesley on Sunday. He takes care of me so much and has been so good that it’s unreasonable to be upset about one spook over the course of the past four shows. Once again, I was lucky enough to work for Casey Sorita and Ross Alexander with Therapy Corner Store. Special thanks to them for continuing to let me work and learn from them to make my horse feel better. Thank you of course to my trainers Quinn Partridge, John Turner, and Gillian Baird for making this week successful and to my dad for making this week possible! Now one week at home and then back to Meadow Wood!

Oregon Summer Classic 2020

Photography Courtesy of Zoe Macbeth

Back on the road again, this time to Wilsonville, Oregon for the Oregon Summer Classic. This horse show was a lot of fun, Wesley and I had found our groove and each class was better than the last. The schedule for the week was typical, we did the 1.10s on Wednesday and Thursday to warm up and he felt amazing, I’m starting to notice that when our 1.10s go well at the beginning of the week then it sets us up for success on the weekend. The weekend rolled around and we started the equitation with the Dover medal, it went very well for us and we tested back first. Next came the worst part of the weekend, which wasn’t that bad, the test of the Dover. I was confident, testing back first I only needed to complete the test and answer the questions given within it. The first jump was a single vertical, I wanted to be brilliant to it and meet it with some pace. I picked up my canter and was never happy with my canter so I kept accelerating, causing me to chip the hell out of the first jump. The rest of the test was great but that chip caused us to move down to fourth. I should have stayed conservative and played it safe to stay in first place.

After that class and the chip of the decade, the rest of the weekend went really well, we won all but one of our medals and had some of our best rounds yet. My proudest moment was the WIHS Jumper Phase where we completed the medal with no faults and a score of 85! I was super happy with how Wesley was going this week and proud of myself for how I was riding. Adrienne Berg also brought her green pony, Gayfield’s Smooth Criminal, to the show for me to show in the low 2’3” classes and she had some of her most consistent rounds yet at her second horse show ever. Thank you, Adrienne, for the opportunity to show such a talented pony!

In addition to showing, I was able to work for Casey Sorita of Therapy Corner Store once again after starting working for them in Sonoma. I really enjoyed finishing my evenings working with her and being with the horses when the showgrounds were quiet and everyone had gone home. Additionally, I learned more about equine bodywork and how to make my horse feel his best. Once again, thank you Casey Sorita and Ross Alexander of Therapy Corner Store for allowing me to work with you for the week! Thank you also to my trainers Quinn Partridge, John Turner, and Gillian Baird for making this week successful and to my dad for making it possible! Excited for next week!